Jaguar Mining takes option on Iamgold assets in Brazil

The option gives Jaguar the potential to earn an initial 60% interest in the package, which comprises 28 exploration tenements. This includes the Paciência mill, which has been dormant in care and maintenance since 2012. The requirements for this option are that Jaguar spends $6mn on exploration over a four-year period, commencing in the third quarter of 2020.

Jaguar Mining will be the project operator. The technical committee will be drawn from representatives of both Iamgold and Jaguar.

The Iron Quadrangle area contains world-class multimillion-ounce gold deposits, including those at Morro Velho, Cuiabá and São Bento. Jaguar already has the second-largest gold land position among companies operating in the Iron Quadrangle, with more than 35 000 ha.

At present, Jaguar’s main operating assets are the Turmalina gold mine and the Caeté mining complex.

Jaguar’s CEO, Vern Baker, commented on the acquisition: “The opportunity to increase exploration targets with the Iron Quadrangle agreement, our sustainable production and excess plant capacity, underpinned by an expanding mineral resource and mineral reserve inventory, can easily support growth exploration initiatives”.

The company’s vice-president for geology and exploration, Jon Hill, added: “A multitude of historical mines and mineralised occurrences along the prolific Sao Vincente, Paciência and Congonhas crustal scale shear zones, along with existing data from ongoing generative work, indicate Tier 1 discovery potential targets. A discovery, regardless of size, may potentially be processed at Jaguar's underutilised and permitted Paciência mill”.

Iamgold is another Canadian gold mining company, with assets in Canada, Burkina Faso and Suriname as well as Brazil. Its CEO, Gordon Stothart, took up the post in March this year.